Jasmine Pearl

A pretty tea both visually (love the little balled up leaves) and taste-wise (mmm). Soft with a good jasmine taste that melds effortlessly into the taste of the tea. Beautiful.

Seriously, it’s like eating a jasmine sugar cookie (without the sugary, though)… or maybe like a tea cake like my dad used to make with the addition of jasmine. Not overpowering or perfume-y and with a solid sweet and bready base taste. ♥

Eep. I just glanced at my Harney & Sons post and hopefully Battle Part Deux will not be nearly as long as Battle Part 1.

Scent
There’s not much to say about this that I didn’t say in the H+S post. It smells so full and succulent that you want to be able to take a bite out of it. Just lovely. But H+S has a bit of a stronger scent and so I gave them the win.

Texture
Samovar’s jasmine was a little lighter in the mouth, but also smoother. Almost silky. If it just came down to those two components I’d call it a coin toss, but because Harney & Sons had that strange tingly/prickly thing going on the round goes to Samovar.

Things I Don’t Know Enough About
The leaves in Jasmine Pearl were more separated. Some of the leaves were attached in pairs at the stem, but many were singles. They were all completely unrolled and long by the time the 3:30 was up. Here are my Samovar pictures.
1 | http://twitpic.com/nfruc
2 | http://twitpic.com/nfrzg
3 | http://twitpic.com/nfs3t
leaf | http://twitpic.com/ng5um
cup | http://twitpic.com/ng61c
all | http://twitpic.com/photos/takgoti

Taste
This one was sweeter, like I mentioned in the H+S review, and a little more consistent over time [however, it did grow in flavor as it cooled]. It also had more of a vegetal quality to it, though subtle. I found that the liquid edged out the Dragon Pearl in terms of complexity, but both had very similar notes and tones. Samovar won the taste round.

Price
The price of Samovar’s 2 oz. can is $15, which is much higher price point per oz. than the next [and only] size up. For this tea to be “worth it” I’d get the 5.5 oz. tin, which runs at $28.

FINAL VERDICT
I am giving Samovar the championship belt in this battle, but it was really, really, REALLY close. If Samovar all of a sudden discontinued their jasmine tea and I would not be at all disappointed at the prospect of drinking Harney and Sons’ jasmine instead. Really, like I mentioned previously, I think that this decision should be based on who you buy more from [and how much you want to get, I suppose]. I buy more Samovar tea than anything else, so it makes more sense for me to get my jasmine from them.

So…I suppose that in the end this was all somewhat moot, but I got to play with my camera and two really great teas so it was a win for me. And really, isn’t that what matters? [Yes.]

Columbus Day at my school coincides with an additional teacher work day, and so I’ve found myself with an extra long weekend. [WIN.]

USUALLY, I find myself confined to my desk. Don’t get me wrong, I love my room, but spending extended amounts of time anywhere can become tiring and make me more than a little crazy. So, when my friend called and said she was heading up to her family’s beach house this weekend and, “Would you like to come?” I don’t think I even let her finish the sentence.

This morning, I found myself on the deck, with a blanket and a nice hot cup of this deliciousness. Some people like to unwind by going out to bars and clubs and getting wasted. This is my gin and tonic. And I don’t have to deal with the hangover. A nice bonus.

The hours that I have been putting into school have meant that the original quantity of time that I put into previous activities has dwindled. Important things, like playing video games and watching TV and making fun of strangers in public situations [because, apparently, I’m an adolescent male] have been flung to the wayside like monkeys fling poo.

Okay, so I don’t really make fun of strangers.

OKAY, so I only do it on alternate Thursdays.

Among the other things that I don’t have time for anymore is normal social interaction on a regular basis. I’ve discovered, perhaps unsettlingly, that I have begun to compensate for this by talking to myself. [This might not be something that I should readily admit publicly, but I feel like if you all aren’t already judging me somewhat then you haven’t been paying attention and this might not faze you.]

So, I’m sitting here, reading my Calculus book like a good girl and I’m comprehending what’s going on. [This is a big deal.] Everything’s great, I’m jamming out to the dulcet tones of Yo-Yo Ma [because I can’t listen to music with words when I have to read something that requires real concentration], and then I turn the page and WHAT IN THE NAME OF SATAN’S UNDERWEAR IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE? That isn’t math, that’s forgotten language of the people of Atlantis. The book is telling me that, “Now, we’re going to blah blah blah,” and I whine at it.

Out loud.

I whine to my book out loud. The words, “But I don’t WANNA,” may have actually been uttered, which is disturbing in and of itself because it was said in seriousness. This was compounded, however, by the fact that I said it to no one except the inanimate object sitting in front of me [that I have affectionately nicknamed Stalin Baby]. Half a second later I’m like, “Whoa,” and push my chair back.

There are only two things that I can do at this point. One is to go take a nap, but as I can’t be certain I’d actually wake up in time to get what I need to get done today I can’t do that. The other is to make me some Jasmine Pearl and subject you all to a long story about how my sanity is slipping away while I try to replace all of the oxygen in my body with the scent of this tea.

I guess this wasn’t so much about the tea as it was about me unloading on you all, but the tea is really good. Easily the best Jasmine I’ve had, ever. If I reach for it when I’m in this kind of state, that should be saying something.

All right. Woo-sah. I’m off to tackle Stalin Baby. Wish me luck.

yum!

Totally addicted to this tea.

Ideal for a cold and rainy day like today!